Chandigarh stalking case: Haryana BJP chief's son in judicial custody till Aug 25

Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party chief Subhash Barala’s son Vikas and his friend Ashish Kumar were on Saturday sent to the judicial custody till August 25 by a court in the alleged stalking and attempt to abduction case of a 29-year-old woman.

Amid tight police security, both were presented before the court of duty magistrate Gaurav Dutta.

Defence counsel Surya Prakash said: “Both the youths have been sent to 14 days of judicial custody.”

They had been earlier sent to the police remand for two days till August 12.

The two accused were re-arrested on August 9 after they joined the police investigation and charged with attempted abduction under section 365 of the IPC and section 511, which relates to an attempt to commit an offence punishable with life or other imprisonment.

• Varnika Kundu: 'My fight is to make women fearless'

Police reconstructed the “crime” scene on August 10 -- six days after the incident took place -- in connection with the stalking and attempt to abduction incident.

The defence lawyer had earlier claimed that Vikas, 23, and Ashish, 27, had not committed any offence and said that a “media trial” was going on in the case.

They were arrested last week following the complaint of Varnika Kundu, the IAS officer’s daughter, but released on bail as they had been booked under bailable sections of the IPC and the Motor Vehicles Act.

The stalking incident -- and their release -- triggered a nationwide outrage and a spate of protests.

On Friday night, several people in Chandigarh held a march ‘Bekhauf Azaadi’ in support of the victim, and to raise awareness on the issue of women’s safety.